The Indian benchmark indices lost more than 1 percent on January 25 with the Nifty finishing below 17,900 amid selling seen across the sectors, especially in power, oil and gas and financials.
After a negative start, the market extended the selling as the day progressed, with indices hitting a one-week low and the Nifty breaching 17,900 intraday, but saw some recovery from the day’s low.
At close, the Sensex was down 773.69 points or 1.27Â percent at 60,205.06, and the Nifty was down 226.30 points or 1.25Â percent at 17,892.
Stocks and sectors
Adani Ports, SBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Cipla were among the biggest losers on the Nifty, while gainers were Hindalco Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, HUL and Tata Steel.
Among sectors, the Nifty Bank index shed 2.5 percent, the Nifty PSU Bank index fell 3.5 percent, the Nifty Energy index declined 2 percent, while the Nifty infra, information technology and pharma were down more than 1 percent each.
The BSE midcap index fell 1.5 percent and smallcap index shed 0.8 percent.
On the BSE, bank, power and realty indices shed 2 percent each and information technology, capital goods, healthcare and oil and gas indices fell 1-1.7 percent.
Laurus Labs, Jindal Poly Films, Bodal Chemicals, Sintex Industries, Bal Pharma, Biocon, touched their 52-week lows on the BSE.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in Indus Towers, Ambuja Cements and PVR.
A short build-up was seen in Indiabulls Housing Finance, Indus Towers and Atul. A long build-up was seen in Persistent Systems, Hindustan Copper and Coforge.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty opened on a negative note on January 25 & tumbled down sharply as the day progressed. It breached the key daily moving averages on the way down. The larger structure, however, shows that the index is still in the range, which it has been witnessing for last one month.
It recently tested the upper end of the range & thereon it has tumbled down towards the lower end i.e. 17800-17760. This zone has been acting as a strong support & is likely to provide support this time as well. Thus unless the level of 17760 breaks, the Nifty can witness recovery within the short term range.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities
Markets went into a tailspin as investors wound up their positions on the last day of F&O expiry. Traders also liquidated their position ahead of the Adani Enterprises FPO, while migration from T2 to T1 settlement starting Friday also led to some offloading.
While trading sentiment may remain volatile, the upcoming Budget and US Fed meet next week could fuel sharp sideways movement in coming sessions.
Technically, after a double top formation, the market witnessed a sharp correction. On daily charts the Nifty has formed a long bearish candle and closed below the 18000 mark which is broadly negative.
As long as the index is trading below 18000, the weak sentiment is likely to continue and below the same the index could retest the level of 17800. Any further down side could drag the index till 17700. On the flip side, above 18000, the index could move up to 18050-18100 levels.
Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking
Markets plunged sharply lower on the monthly expiry day and ended with a cut of over a percent. After the flat start, the Nifty index drifted gradually lower in the first half and remained in a narrow band thereafter. It finally settled at 17891.95 levels; down by 1.25%.
Meanwhile, the selling pressure was widespread wherein banking & financials lost maximum closely followed by energy and realty counters. The broader indices too traded in tandem with the trend and shed in the range of 1%-1.5%.
This decline has again pushed the Nifty index closer to the lower band of the prevailing consolidation range i.e. 17750 levels and indications from the banking pack, which holds considerable weight in the index, are pointing towards more pain ahead. We reiterate our view to prefer hedged positions and suggest adding a few shorts too.
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